Bedclothes-holder.



i TE TPATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. S'IOTT, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

BEDCLOTI-IES-HOLDER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TILLIAM J. S'roir'r, acitizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulBedclothes-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for holding the clothes on a bed.

The principal objects thereof are to provide a simple and inexpensivedevice of this character which shall be readily adjustable to any or allkinds of beds and mattresses, and which will securely hold the bedclothes when many are used or even when only a single sheet is employed;also to provide a construction which will remain in position while thebed is being made, and which can be manipulated from one side of the bedwithout necessitating passing to the other side.

The invention also involves in'iprovements in details of construction aswill appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 isa side elevation of a portion of a bed with a preferred embodiment ofthis invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan thereof showing oneend; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the clothes holdingclamps showing the end connections; and Fig. 4 is a view of the end ofthe clamp.

The invention is shownv as applied to an ordinary metal bed. F or thispurpose a bracket 10 is shown on each side of the bed having top andbottom flanges 11 at one end for receiving a plurality of set screws 12by which the bracket is secured at any point along the side rail of thebed. In this way it will be obvious that the bracket can be adjustedlongitudinally on the bed to bring the bed clothes holder to any desiredpoint and that the bracket is firmly secured in adjusted position. Theend of the bracket is provided with a vertical slot 13 in which is avertical bar 14. This bar is secured adjustably by a set screw 15. Itwill be seen therefore that the bar can be adjusted to any desiredheight so as to accommodate mattresses of different thicknesses. On thetop of the bar are shown a pair of pins 17 and above these pins the baris pointed, the point having two surfaces at right angles to each other,in the present Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 18, 1911.

Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

Serial. No. 666,527.

case, to fitthe under side of an angle iron 18 which rests on thispointed surface. This angle iron extends across the bed over themattress and at each end is provided with a bent rod 19 adapted to itjust under the pins so as to hold the angle iron properly in position.This angle iron may rest on the mattress or be held slightly above it,but it is to be observed that it is entirely independent of themattress, and. in either case the mattress can be taken out and. turnedwithout removing this bar. On this angle iron or bar rests a similar one20. The angle iron 20 projects beyond the ends of the lower angle iron18 and is provided with a bent rod 21 at the end for receiving a strapThis strap is connected with the bracket 10 by means of a buckle 23,spring 24:. and hook 25. The hook 25 is located on the set screw 15 andobviously the strap can be adjusted to suit the adjustment of thevertical bar and provide a spring pressure on the opposite ends of theupper bar 20 to hold it down in intimate contact with the lower bar. Theupper surface of the lower bar and the lower surface of the upper barpreferably are provided with a layer of felt 26 or similar materialglued to the bars. It will be understood of course that each end of theupper bar is held down by the spring when the device is in use to securethe bed clothes between the two bars. It will be seen also that inchanging the bed clothes all that is required is to loosen the strap atone side of the bed and throw that end of the angle bar up on the footof the bed. This entirely releases the bed clothes from the holder andpermits any changes or other manipulations. After the bed clothes arearranged in the usual manner, of course passing over the lower bar, theloosened end of the upper bar is brought back into position over theclothes and lower bar to clamp the clothes thereto and the strap at thatend is tightened up to the necessary degree. It will be seen thereforethat these parts are designed to hold the bed clothes securely and topermit the making up of the bed in the usual manner withoutnecessitating the tucking of the clothes between two holding bars andwithout necessitating any attention to the rear side of the bed. 7

In order to hold the bed clothes more thoroughly and particularly tohold them when they are thin, one of the two bars can be bent toward theother at the center. As for example, in this case, the upper bar isshown as being slightly depressed at the center. In this way when eachend is pulled down by the spring the bars will hold the clothes all theway across. The object of holding the clothes in this way need not beexplained in full, as many devices have been invented for this generalpurpose. It is sufficient to say that by this device the clothes arefirmly held from end to end and also particularly in the middle, so thatthey cannot be loosened by a sleeper, and so that in making the bed upwith the same clothes it is not necessary to loosen the holder, and thebed can be made up in much less time than if it were'necessary tostraighten the clothes out fromend to end of the bed.

While I have illustrated and described a specific embodiment of theinvention, I am aware that modifications can be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from the scope of the invention asexpressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to be limited to allthe details of construction herein shown and described but hat I doclaim is 1. In a bed clothes holder, the combination of a bar, means forholding the bar along the top of a mattress at the foot of the bed, asecond bar in contact with the top of the first bar and extending beyondit at both ends, and yielding means independent of the first named meansand beyond the ends of the first bar for holding the second bar down atthe ends on the first bar, one of said bars being straight and the otherbeing bent toward it at the center in order to clamp the bed clothesthroughout their length.

2. In a bed clothes holder, the combination of a pair of angle ironsadapted to extend across the bed, one located above and fitting the topof the other and extending beyond it at both ends, a verticallyadjustable positive support for the end of the lower bar at the side ofthe bed, and ad justable resilient means for fastening the projectingends of the upper bar to said support to hold the upper bar yieldinglydown on the lower bar.

3. In a bed clothes holder, the combination of a pair of brackets eachlongitudinally adjustable along the side rail of a bed, an upright heldby each of said brackets and adjustable vertically, a transverse barsupported by the ends of said uprights, an upper bar fitting the uppersurface of the first named bar and projecting beyond it at its ends, anda resilient adjustable means for holding the projecting ends of theupper bar down on the lower bar.

4:. In a device of the character described, the combination of alongitudinally adjustable bracket, a vertical bar adjustable verticallyon the bracket and having an upper surface inclined from the centerclownwardly in opposite directions, an angle iron fitting said uppersurface and resting thereon and having a bent rod connecting its outeredges together, and a pair of pins on said vertical bar and fittingbetween said rod and the surface of the angle iron.

5. In a bed clothes holder, the combination of a bracket having avertical passage therein a bar movable up and down in said passage, aset screw on the bracket for holding the bar in adjusted positions, abed clothes holding bar supported above the top of said vertical bar, astrap connected with the end of said bed clothes holding bar, and aspring adjustably connected with said strap and connected with said setscrew for holding said bar down.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

IVILLIAM J. STOTT.

lVitnesses ALBERT E. FAY, C. FORREST VVEssoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

